It has been a few months from my last shave using s straight razor. Today I had the opportunity to take a little extra time and enjoy a shave. I reached in the cabinet and picked up a few shaving soap varieties, finally settling on Mitchell’s Wool Fat Shaving Soap, using the original 1893 formula. Mitchell’s is a product of Bradford Yorkshire England. Being a solid soap, my first choice for a brush was the Simpson Super Badger Chubby 1, another product of England. As for the razor, I grabbed the Timor Special, a nice blade coming from Solingen Germany. I was getting the feeling that this shave was going back in time so I opted for Hoyt’s Cologne in it’s 1868 formulation.
Today’s shave started by stropping the razor on the linen side and then going to the horsehide side several times. I wanted to make sure that I have a good edge. I dampened the brush and soap while I applied a hot towel to my face to soften up the stubble. I quickly got a good lather going and worked it up to a better lather on my face. The Simpson Super Badger Chubby 1 is a great brush. It is soft on the face, yet is has the stiffness that helps with a solid soap to work up a lather. Once my face was covered with a great lather, I then worked the razor down with the grain of my whiskers to begin clearing my face of the roughness.
Once that was complete, I went with the hot towel for a minute and then applied another lathering of the Mitchell’s Wool Fat Shaving Soap. This time I went up against the grain. For this I use my left hand on the right side of my face. I have found it much easier to do that than use my right hand. Of course, i have learned to eat with my left hand over the years so i do have some fine motor skills in my left hand. The shave was getting closer and closer. I was surprised how smoothly everything went as I had not shaves with a straight razor for several months. I attribute that to a good sharp edge and smooth slick shaving soap.
On my chin area I needed to do a little cross grain cleanup. That went quickly and I was off to cleaning up anything that had grown in on my neck. I really like the light fragrance of the Mitchell’s shaving soap.
As for the Hoyt’s, it is one of my favorite fragrances. Not overpowering and not wimpy. It felt great on my face after I cooled it with water. It was a great shave.
Simpson Super Badger Chubby 1, Mitchells’s Wool Fat Shaving Soap, Timore Special razor and Hoyt’s Cologne
